A CD at full price with little more than 30 minutes duration? Well, this is
something rather special for collectors. If like me you’ve known and loved
these pieces through recordings such as that on EMI
conducted by Leonard Bernstein – also recorded with a pungently expressive
French orchestra – then you will certainly be curious as to how the composer
himself conducted these works.

With Le boeuf sur le toit, Milhaud leaps out at us from behind the
curtains with theatrical verve, keeping up a high tempo in the more lyrical
sections where Bernstein has a tendency to stretch and pull things around
more. This immanent urgency brings the work in at a good 3 minutes under Bernstein’s
timing. The orchestral playing is tremendously vital, and even with a certain
amount of distortion at peaks and one or two audible edits, this is a performance
to which you just have to move about. The subtitle Cinema-Symphonie was
never more appropriate than here, with the mind constantly conjuring images
of hobbling donkeys, brash and colourful South American characters, dusty
days and sultry nights.

La création du monde is full of heartbreakingly beautiful and thrilling
music, and if you don’t know it you must go out and find yourself a recording
as soon as possible. Bernstein’s
version is my favourite. There is another one on the Naxos label with the
Orchestre National de Lille (see review)
which is OK, but doesn’t have quite the emotional impact of either Bernstein
or the present recording sous la direction de l’Auteur. That saxophone
solo in the beginning just has to be played with plenty of eloquent vibrato,
which we find with both Bernstein and Milhaud. Detail in the recording is
better with Bernstein as you would expect, and you have to put up with that
distortion as well at times with the present disc. The André Charlin release
doesn’t go in for information about mastering or sources, though as the original
engineer one has to assume these are taken from master tapes. There is a little
hiss on the recording which is no problem at all, though the emphasis is more
on the treble in terms of balance. Milhaud doesn’t obtain quite the jazzy
swing Bernstein
obtains during all that counterpoint which develops in the first five minutes
or so, and with a thinner bass presence the embrace of the pedal tones and
bass lines over which the harmonies turn and grow is more distant and less
effective. The percussion section of the Champs Elysées orchestra seems to
suffer collective anticipatory rush-itis, and one can sense their collective
heads buried in their parts, the poor conductor cast adrift after each initial
cue. Bernstein’s control in this department is most certainly superior. All
of this taken into consideration, there is a magic about this performance
which transcends technical criticisms, and it has to be said, this is a unique
document which breathes the same air and generates a similar atmosphere of
adventure and discovery as some of Stravinsky’s original recordings, and as
such deserves a similar status.

These are not to be confused with the mono recordings Milhaud made with the
Concert Arts Orchestra in 1954 which are now available on EMI. There are great
things on that CD (CDC 7 54604 2 also in the Composers
in Person box), and while the recording of La création du monde
is definitely inferior the Champs Elysées recording Le boeuf sur le toit
sneaks in as the last track, so it has to be worth considering. If you
already have a favourite version of these pieces and aren’t turned on by the
historical resonances and irreplaceable sense or time and place generated
by this kind of recording, then this is probably not going to be worth your
while given the price. If however you seek that gritty feel of a period performance
under the directorship of the composer, then this is the genuine article.